Chicago Sauna Circuit: Banyas, Bathhouses & Lake Michigan Plunges | Sauna Talk #121
Release Date: 12/31/2025
The New Party Sauna: Community, Cold Plunges & Sauna Days | Josh Leddy & Leif Kjorness | Sauna Talk 131
Sauna Talk
In this of Sauna Talk, Glenn Auerbach is joined bench-side by Josh Leddy of Get Sweaty with Leddy and sauna builder Leif Kjorness of Excelsior Saunas for a deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation recorded after multiple sauna and cold plunge rounds on Lake Ann in Minnesota. What unfolds is more than a discussion about sauna. It’s a conversation about craftsmanship, friendship, healing, community, and the ways sauna culture continues to evolve while still holding onto its roots. Josh shares how his lifelong connection to sauna eventually inspired him to launch Get Sweaty with...
info_outline
Sauna, Science, and Integrity: A Deeper Look at Heat & Health with Dr. Ashley Mason and Earric Lee | Sauna Talk 130
Sauna Talk
n this live panel from Sauna Days 2025, Glenn welcomes two of the most thoughtful voices in sauna research, Dr. Ashley Mason of UCSF and Earric Lee of the Montreal Heart Institute, for a candid conversation about the current state of sauna science, where the evidence is strong, where it is still emerging, and why integrity matters when talking about health benefits in the sauna world. This episode goes far beyond the usual wellness headlines. Ashley and Earric dig into the real responsibility that comes with promoting sauna for health, especially in a moment when many businesses lean on...
info_outline
Why Heat Makes You Stronger (Backed by Science) | A Conversation with Bill Gifford, author of "Hotwired: How the Hidden Power of Heat Makes Us Stronger" | Sauna Talk Episode 129
Sauna Talk
In this episode of Sauna Talk, Glenn sits down with Bill Gifford, author of Hotwired: How the Hidden Power of Heat Makes Us Stronger, for a wide-ranging conversation on sauna, heat adaptation, and the connection between physical challenge and mental well-being. Bill shares how his journey into heat began through personal stress, scientific curiosity, and his reporting on the powerful effects of sauna and thermal exposure. Together, Glenn and Bill explore the famous Finnish sauna research of Dr. Jari Laukkanen, the role of heat in cardiovascular and mental health, and the way sauna can act as...
info_outline
Doctors Who Sauna: What the Science Says About Heat, Health, Sleep, Stress & Sauna Culture | Sauna Talk Episode 128
Sauna Talk
Recorded live at Sauna Days 2025, this episode of Sauna Talk brings together a thoughtful panel of doctors who sauna for a grounded conversation on heat, health, and the real role of sauna in modern life. Glenn is joined by Dr. Jeremiah Eisenchenk, Dr. Brandon Dotson, Dr. Brittany Kimball, and Dr. Ashley Mason for a lively discussion on what we know, what we don’t know, and why sauna continues to matter for both personal well-being and community connection. This conversation explores: cardiovascular health and the most-cited sauna studies sleep, mood, depression, stress reduction, and...
info_outline
Four Sauna Authors Talk Heat, Community, and the Global Sauna Revival | Recorded at the 2026 Culture of Bathing Sauna Village in New York City | Sauna Talk Episode 127
Sauna Talk
In this special episode of Sauna Talk, I’m joined inside one of the Culture of Bathing Sauna Village saunas in New York City by three fellow authors whose work explores heat bathing culture from very different perspectives. This conversation was recorded on the sauna bench during the 2026 Culture of Bathing Festival in New York City. Recorded during Culture of Bathing 2.0 gathering on the East River, this conversation brings together authors Yuval Zohar (Towards a Nude Architecture), (Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat and Wild Sauna), Bill Gifford (Hotwired: How Heat Makes...
info_outline
The Rise of Public Sauna in America | Finnish Sauna, DIY Building & Sauna Culture Revival | Recorded at the 2026 Culture of Bathing Sauna Village in New York City
Sauna Talk
In this special episode of Sauna Talk, the tables are turned as Adam Pambatanaka, COO of Therme Group U.S., steps into the interviewer’s role and puts Glenn on the bench. Recorded live at Sauna Village in New York City in February 2026, this conversation dives into Glenn’s own sauna origin story, from getting hooked in the Baltic archipelago to helping champion mobile saunas, sauna building, and public sauna culture across North America. Adam guides the discussion through the big themes that have shaped Glenn’s work with SaunaTimes: the rise of sauna in the public domain, the DIY sauna...
info_outline
Vancouver Sauna Circuit + West Coast Sauna Summit | Valtteri Rantala | Sauna Talk #125
Sauna Talk
Today on the bench, we sit withValtteri Rantala, A Finn living in Vancouver BC since 2016. Val started a Sauna company in Vancouver in 2019. And in the shadows of Western Red Cedars, we'll hear the origin stories of the budding West Coast Sauna Summit at Loon Lake Lodge and Retreat center, one of the pins on Val's Vancouver Sauna Circuit. We just returned from the second West Coast Sauna Summit here in 2026. And I was able to attend last year's inaugural Summit in 2025. The Vibes at the West Coast Sauna Summit are quite familiar to me, as founder and lead contributor for...
info_outline
New York City’s First Sauna Village | Culture of Bathing Gathering | Sauna Talk #124
Sauna Talk
Welcome to this episode of Sauna Talk recorded on multiple sauna benches at the Culture of Bathing Sauna Village in New York City. I'll keep this introduction brief as we turn the microphone over to four pillars behind the second annual Culture of Bathing gathering. This year, the gathering was layered adjacent to the opening of New York Cities first sauna village. A village of 15 architecturally-distinct saunas set along the Williamsburg waterfront. Featuring: Mikkel Aaland: The Godfather of Sweat Cosmin-Nicolae Cîrîc: King of the Sauna Experience Robert Hammond: President and Chief...
info_outline
Mikkel Aaland: Sauna Aid, Sustainability & The Future of Bathing | Sauna Talk #123
Sauna Talk
Today’s episode comes to you from the recent West Coast Sauna Summit, outside Vancouver BC Canada, where I had the honour of interviewing Mikkel Aaland, the Godfather of Sweat, live in front of a packed room of thermal enthusiasts. It’s no secret that Mikkel has been a mentor to me, in sweat, in sauna, and in life. What I’ve always admired is his refusal to stay inside the box. Instead, he works the edges of it, where things are more interesting, more impactful, and where real change actually happens. In this conversation, we dig into three ideas that are front and center for him right...
info_outline
Sauna Ventilation Explained: The Lazy River & Deep Wave Heat with Keegan Kittock of Deep Wave Sauna | Sauna Talk #122
Sauna Talk
Today on the bench, we sit together with Keegan Kittock, co-founder of Deep Wave Sauna. With the rising tide of sauna also comes marketing talk, pedantic chatter, and graphs and charts about how air supposedly moves in the hot room. So it’s extra special and refreshing to visit with someone like Keegan. In this episode, we start at the beginning—picturing Keegan after elementary school, dragging a magnet around a building site, earning bubble-gum money working for his father’s contracting company. And like many of us, catching the sauna bug at a young, impressionable age up north at...
info_outlineToday on the virtual bench we visit with longtime thermal enthusiast, friend, and SaunaTimes contributor Kev who takes us through the public bathhouses in and around Chicago for this Sauna Circuit.
As you’ll hear in this episode, Kev is no stranger to the saunas, banyas, and bathhouses in his hometown. What’s cool about Chicago is that the banya culture is well developed.. and also quite historic thanks to aptly entitled Chicago Bathhouse, a traditional bathhouse at 1914 W. Division Street in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, which has operated since 1906. Formerly Red Square, this Russian-style bathhouse has been in operation since 1906. Featured in a 2016 SaunaTimes blog post here.
And layered on top of that, you’ll hear about the Asian inspired King Spa, the deep heavy heat offered at Chicago Sweatlodge, the new Kiln floating sauna – a dream come true right there floating on Lake Michigan at Navy Pier, and a Kev fan favorite the Sauna Club, where its affirmed that “we can solve for heat, but sometimes solving for the cold is more of a challenge.” And in this case, the time to leave the hot room is when the idea of a fresh cold lake plunge in Lake Michigan, just steps away, is about the best idea you’ve ever heard.
And each Sauna Circuit includes a few gems and “adjacencies.” These are special places shared with you by Kev, the Chicago Sauna Scout. These adjacencies are in the spirit of “people like us do things like this.” For example, the Navy Pier and Lakefront Path give Chicago visitors a real flavor of the city, and also a chance to get some exercise before round one. And there’s some extra special restaurants to check out – each conveniently adjacent to a Chicago bathhouse, like Smoke Daddy BBQ, Lou Malnattis Pizza, and SuperDawg Drive-In, just to name a few.
So, whether you live in Chicago, or thinking of heading to Chicago for a vacation, or on the march to the Windy City for work or a trade show, this Sauna Circuit is right here for you. To access, simply go to SaunaTimes.com, click on the Sauna Circuit map, and then the Chicago Sauna Circuit.. and from there, you’re well on your way.
Let’s visit with Kev, and bring you along to the Chicago Sauna Circuit.